A close friend of mine was, once upon a time, political adviser to former prime minister VP Singh. I met him first in the 1980s and had always seen him in the staple of netagiri – khadi kurtas and Aligarhi pyjamas. Read more

With my regular driver on leave, I decided not to hire another one — I thought it would give me the much-needed opportunity to re-familiarise myself with the public transport system of Bombay that brings with it its own insights as well as sights and sounds that the rolled-up windows of your own car completely shut out of your life. Read more

I was amused to see Team Anna draw flak this week from two leaders quite on the opposite sides of the spectrum: Sonia Gandhi and Nitish Kumar. While Sonia, whose speech was read out in absentia at a rally in Uttarakhand, seemed quite impatient with the frequent noises being made by the team members, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar was simply – and justifiably – peeved at the tendency of the team members to think only they are right and everybody else who has his or her own mind is corrupt. Read more

I have spent an absolutely delightful two days (and hope for some more) at the Literature Live Festival at the National Centre of Performing Arts, which has for the first time thrown its doors open to a literary festival. Read more